


Settling For Crying

by AHeartForStories



Series: AHeartForStories' Whumptober 2020 [22]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Astrid Hofferson Whump, Drug Use, Gen, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III Whump, Hiccup Whump, Hurt Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Kinda, Medicine, Post-Amputation, Surgery, Whump, Whumptober 2020, astrid whump, sedatives and painkillers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:28:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27153157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AHeartForStories/pseuds/AHeartForStories
Summary: Written for Whumptober Day 22. Set right after Httyd 1. When Astrid said she wanted to help out with Hiccup's recovery, she wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn't this.
Relationships: Gobber the Belch & Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Astrid Hofferson, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III & Stoick the Vast
Series: AHeartForStories' Whumptober 2020 [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949440
Comments: 8
Kudos: 48





	Settling For Crying

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt: "Drugged"  
> Because I can't imagine Hiccup going through such an experience without A LOT of sedatives and painkillers.  
> And I've always liked to headcanon that Astrid was there to help out.
> 
> Constructive criticism is appreciated!  
> Enjoy!

When Astrid said she wanted to help out with Hiccup's recovery, she wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn't this.

"It's alright, son, it's alright." Astrid stands frozen on the sidelines while the Chief attempts to soothe his son as he lies before him on the bed.

They've just gotten back to Berk after the defeat of the dragon queen already dubbed "the Red Death" and the first thing they did was get Hiccup home and Gothi to him.

It was quite a sight, arriving on the docks with the one ship that was still salvageable, Berkians coming to meet their returning warriors only to be pushed aside by Stoick the Vast himself as he hurries with his burnt and blood-soaked son in his arms. And dragon riders landing in the middle of the plaza with a bunch of other dragons in tow who had stubbornly, and mysteriously, decided to follow them all home.

Gobber had gone to get Gothi, their elder and healer, while the unloading warriors told those who'd stayed home of what had happened.

Astrid had jumped off her dragon and followed Gothi and Gobber. Before they could tell her to go to her peers, she'd offered her help and here they are.

Gothi has been tending to Hiccup's injuries, Gobber translates and helps, and Stoick tries to calm his son while said son is moaning and crying from the pain. And Astrid, she's currently standing there holding a bowl with water and being useless, though nobody seems to say anything.

All she can do is think about the fact that she can't actually remember ever having seen Hiccup cry before, much less wail until his throat is beyond raw.

She can't blame him for the way he's behaving, not with a leg that burned and one missing.

And oh yes, how lovely that was. On the way back, they'd needed to amputate Hiccup's left leg from the calf down as it was just way beyond saving.

They had tried to let Hiccup keep it for as long as they could, just in case the limb might still make it, but infection set in along the way and they had no other choice. In order to save his life, they had to take it.

Astrid wasn't present for that one, having been flying back and forth with Stormfly to bring home the Vikings that couldn't fit on the boat, but she can only imagine what that must've been like.

She hopes Hiccup wasn't awake for that.

Not that he can be called awake now. The first thing Gothi did after just one look at his injuries was force something down his throat, it was to put him to sleep. Or that is what Astrid guesses as she's still listening to Hiccup crying and moaning the lungs out of his body except he's slipping in and out of consciousness, a mercy he hadn't been granted much during the trip back.

A new cry breaks out every time Gothi starts on a new patch to clean and Astrid can see his face contort, can see a new slew of tears escape. He just wants to escape, both Gobber and the Chief are holding him down and keeping him from doing so before he momentarily passes out again.

It's an arduous cycle and all Astrid can do is stand there with the bowl of water. Completely useless as all she does is stare at the scene before her, traumatized by his screaming and struggling.

How long has it been since they got home? A mere hour? Or have a few passed already? She can't tell, but what she can is that this will probably be Hiccup's reality for however long it's necessary. Just passing between the boundaries of sleep and wakefulness and the accompanying agony that is sure to follow, his system filled with medicine after medicine to keep him asleep and the pain away.

Is that a burning in her throat that she feels? A constrictive aching in her chest? Are there tears blurring her vision and is her lip trembling? The last thing she wants to do is cry and make herself of even less use.

"Astrid, lass," Stoick requests the water she holds and it takes her a moment to force her frozen body to move. It's not often that her legs have felt so heavy.

But she manages to step forward and sink down on a chair. Bowl on her lap and cloth in hand, she does the only thing she's allowed to do and that is to wipe the culmination of sweat off his face.

Stoick hadn't originally wanted her here, had given her a strange look when she offered her help. He hadn't wanted someone as young as her to see her new friend be in such pain, but he'd ended up relenting. Mostly because Gobber told him that, in the event that Hiccup might need to be awake, it would help to have another friendly face near him.

There was Toothless, but the Night Fury isn't allowed inside. Something he's still protesting, too, wailing and scratching on the door, going louder each time Hiccup goes louder.

With how focussed everyone present is on Hiccup, they barely notice.

Astrid doesn't like to be treated as a child, though she knows the reality of her age. There's a part of her that regrets being so stubborn.

Hiccup will end up remembering nothing of this ordeal except for in the occasional nightmare following his recovery, he'll even be surprised to find his leg gone. Meanwhile, Astrid will find it quite memorable.

But for now, she sits there and helps in any way she can, holding back sobs she notices both her chief and local blacksmith are much better at hiding their feelings. And surely not because of a lack of care, but simply because it would do their son and student little good.

Their time to truly take in and comprehend what this is will come later, after Hiccup's been cared for.

Astrid hopes to gain that kind of resilience someday, though that will probably only come through pure experience and little else.

Until then, she'll have to settle for crying with Hiccup.


End file.
